Friday News And Views

Virtual Turkey Burn Challenge Update:

Well, this time next week it will be on! The Virtual Turkey Burn Challenge will be happening all over the place. I'm excited to see where reports will be coming from, but I have had some off-line confirmations and comments elsewhere that lead me to believe that this could be the biggest turnout to date!

Riders living in Tennessee, Nebraska, Kansas, Washington, (the state) and even Spain have indicated to me that they will be taking part in this challenge. 

Wow! Even if these rides don't happen I am really honored and humbled that people are taking this seriously. And I'm sure these folks are 100% in for the challenge, I'm just saying that the mere thought that folks are excited about this is very meaningful to me. Thank you all! 

I'm watching the weather very carefully and trying to get my best shot in. I know weather can be tricky here in the Mid-West this time of the year, and darkness is a thing to contend with as well. So, we will see how it all falls out in a week and some days. 

Meanwhile, if all these folks and some surprise additions come in, I will have to take stock and jam in a lot of reports in a schedule jam-packed with stuff I have to get through for the end-of-year here. It'll be ......interesting! 

Gravel Worlds News:

Gravel Worlds announced last week that they are bringing back the 1000 Women of Gravel initiative where the Gravel Worlds team will try to raise up 1000 female participants across all categories of the event including the new Gravel Triathlon and Duathlon events, both of which are USA Cycling national championship events. 

Gravel Worlds also announced HED Cycling as their official wheel partner for the event as well. Finally, the organization claimed their original web address, "gravelworlds.com" again, which they had lost for several years. 

A Gentle Reminder: 

You've probably noticed that the "end-of-year" posts have kicked in already, but in case you haven't, I just wanted to take a quick minute to remind you all that this past week is pretty much what the rest of the year will look like here. 

I will be reviewing people, bikes, and my experiences throughout 2024. This will be in addition to the 20th anniversary of the blog reviews that are happening about weekly now also. 

Fridays will still be like this, and I will interject news and ride reports where they need to be as they happen. So, if this isn't your cup of tea, I will be back on a "regular schedule" in January. If you are up for the end-of-year stuff, hang on! I've got plenty to cover in the next several weeks! 

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

DT Swiss, Shutter Precision Collaborate On New Dynamo Gravel Wheelset:

News popped up on Wednesday of this week regarding a new DT Swiss offering in conjunction with dynamo hub producer, Shutter Precision. 

The new DT Swiss hub has Shuuter Precision's internals to provide light on demand for any gravel/adventure rider. The hub will be offered on its own as well as a part of two different 350 hub based gravel wheel sets with aluminum rims. 

According to this report I read, the hubs and wheels are beginning to be available now, although for some areas of the world it may take until the end of this year for hubs and wheels to show up in consumer's hands. 

Comments: This should be a great deal, especially the pre-built 1600 and 1800 level wheel sets, for gravel riders. The only downside is that you will need to configure a wiring route suitable for your bike, install it, and buy a head lamp suitable for the dynamo hub. It is initially an expensive proposition, and it is tempting to think a self-contained LED based torch is easier. However; I have both systems and I never fail to be satisfied with my dynamo set up due to its ease of use and care-free nature regarding the need to maintain battery power, as you will have to do with a self-contained LED set up. 

However; you are tethered to THAT one wheel and bike set up. So, if you have multiple bikes you want to use, a self-contained LED set-up will be more efficient and less expensive overall. Plus if that hub goes down, you are without a bike and a light system. While Shutter Precision lights enjoy a reasonably good reputation, my research turned up some issues regarding these hubs and Winter riding in specific. Now DT Swiss' version uses straight-up Shutter Precision guts, but the hub shell and bearings are perhaps a better quality than the original. Hard to say at this point. 

New Episode Dropped!

N.Y. Roll and I had shiggy back on again to talk about tubeless tire stuff. You can check out the new episode HERE. 

We get into some - perhaps long forgotten - tubeless history. Then we talk about tires a bit, rim design, air pressures, and how we mount tires. There are a lot of tips and tricks shared here. 

Then we get into sealants and which work, which do not work, and I even give out MG's Secret Tubeless Formula so you can make your own sauce if you want to. 

Next up we may do a recap of Cold Weather Riding Tips with some updates to that. If you have any questions about the tubeless episode which we did not touch upon, or new questions about cold weather riding, let me know. 

I'm thinking we may squeeze in two more episodes before our Winter break. The last episode will be a recap of 2024 and the gravel scene, most likely. I expect our last episodes to drop in the beginning of December. That will close out Season #2 and we plan on Season #3 to start sometime in mid to late January. 

As always, thanks for reading and get out there and ride those bicycles!